Islamabad, January 7, 2026: Lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, on Wednesday moved an Islamabad court seeking to summon the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) as a witness in a case registered against them over their social media posts.
The case, registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, accuses Mazari and Chattha of inciting divisions on linguistic grounds and creating the impression through social media that the armed forces were involved in acts of terrorism within the country.
During the hearing before Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka, the accused submitted a written application referring to a press conference addressed by the military spokesperson on January 6. The application stated that the press briefing was broadcast on national media and remains available online, and that references were made to matters “directly pending trial before this learned court.”
“This is the exact prosecution case that is pending adjudication before this learned court,” the application said, arguing that summoning the DG ISPR was necessary in the interest of natural justice and in line with constitutional guarantees of a fair trial and due process.
The court directed that a copy of the application be provided to the prosecution and observed that a decision on the request would be made after hearing the prosecution’s response. It later noted that a ruling on the application would be issued after recording the statements of the accused under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
During the proceedings, prosecution witness Shahroz Riaz was cross-examined and made several admissions regarding the initiation of the inquiry and the manner in which social media content was collected. The hearing was adjourned until January 8.
The case originated from a complaint filed on August 12, 2025, at the NCCIA, Islamabad. The complaint accused Mazari of disseminating and propagating narratives allegedly aligned with hostile terrorist and proscribed organisations, while Chattha was implicated for reposting some of her content.
According to the first information report (FIR), the accused allegedly held security forces responsible for cases of missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and portrayed the armed forces as ineffective against proscribed groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Mazari and Chattha were indicted in the case in October last year.
